The Coming Birthday
by Lawlypop
Summary: Shinichi's birthday is coming up. Conan wants to do something special for Ran. But the Black Organization is in his mind as a letter arrives to the house of Shinichi. But, it seems his birthday will be the last of his worries as something tragic occurs...
1. Prologue: Arrival

I, in no way own Detective Conan.  
This fanfiction however, IS mine, so no stealing.  
smacks self.. I accidently deleted the story... Yeah originally published on the 21st...

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Prologue: Arrival 

Conan hesitated as he reached forward to the vial with colourless liquid in front of him on the table, but couldn't help but see Ai trying to keep in her grinning. "Well, what do we have here? Another one of those temporary antidotes to the APTX? Which **I** happen to be testing again?"

They were in Shinichi's house. Ai smiled. "I improved it from the last time, so you should be able to stay in your old body for at least two and a half days. Tell me what it tastes like, bitter, sweet…" She turned as she was about to leave the building and said, "Besides, your birthday is coming up, so wouldn't you want to spend time with your girlfriend?" She got up with Conan watching, opened the door, and she left the house.

"By the way," She said loudly enough for Conan to hear. "It's been quite a while since the Black Organization seemed to have done something, They may be creating all kinds of new poisin and smuggling weapons for a hunt... A big hunt."And the sound of her footsteps proved her to be truly leaving.

Conan knew she was smiling when she said the birthday part, but her smile faded talking about the Black Organization, for he knew she was thinking of her sister.

Thinking back to what Haibara said, the boy looked at the calendar. April 27th, one week until his... Shinichi's birthday. He thought in the silence of the house. _Damn… Should I take the 'antidote?' Ai didn't say that dying wasn't a possibility, but spending my time with Ran is the important thing, isn't it? I mean, I haven't spent time with her in my true form for so long, I lied to her so many times already… made up so many excuses... And the Black Organization, what about them? The FBI and police force wouldn't always be there… They'd kill me for sure if they saw me... and Ran… I can't… I can't… I…_

"OIIII! KUDO!" A familiar voice broke out as Heiji entered the room and spotted him. "Ah there you ar-"

"IDIOT!" Conan shouted at him. "Don't go around shouting out my name everywhere!" He tackled Heiji, as the two boys fell forward and almost knocked down the table the temporary antidote was on. Conan got up first rubbed some dust off and pointed at the intruder. "III-DEE-OTT!" The boy yelled so loudly. "What are you thinking barging in here while shouting my name? And now you almost destroy the antidote!"

"Oww…" The West Detective mumbled while rubbing his chest where Conan attacked. "You're so violen-… Antidote? You mean that Haibara-kun made one? I just saw her walking back to Prof. Agasa's house. Antidote… That's great… but…"

"Yeah that's right, another momentary one... and I'm her guinea pig.. again…" Conan sighed. "And you know what? She probably on purposely chose this week because my birthday is coming up." Heiji looked at him. "On May 4th." Conan wondered if Heiji was thinking why he didn't tell him his birthday before. The kid looked at the high school detective. "H_ow _did you get inside? Why WERE you being so loud anyway? Don't you know how dangerous it is?"

"And how dangerous you are," he murmured, but replied. "Don't worry, don't worry. The windows and doors were closed. It was Haibara-kun that let me in, and besides, it's not like Ran-san is around here or anything."

Conan stared hopelessly at him. "Just don't do it again… What if… what if it were you and Kazuha-san instead of me and Ran?"

"…"

They were silent for a few minutes, and Conan knew that Heiji was taking it quite seriously.

Finally, Heiji looked up and put his arms behind his head and sat. "Well what are you going to do Kudo? Take it or not? The last time Ran-san saw you as your real self was the school play, if I'm not mistaken…"

The boy shrugged. "Since Haibara stated it should last 60 hours, I guess I'll drink half of it and spend 30 hours with her on my birthday, and use the rest when it's hers…" He sighed. "That should be enough time… thirty hours…" Trying to hide his inside face from Heiji, he said, "We could start at 9 in the morning or something,on my birthday, until 12 at night I guess, then I'll sleep as Co-" He paused, knowing what would happen if Ran woke up in the middle of the night. "… me, wake at 9 again, and spend the next 6 hours with Ran, and with the last hour… prepare… to… leave…"

Heiji listend to him talking. _If this ever happens to me and Kazuha, I couldn't be as strong or daring as you Kudo… I would never be able to keep in lies for so long…_

"But for now, I just need to continue on, and of course, make a phone call to her…" Heiji looked at the boys' face, the smile was so fake, anyone could see through it with all the sadness showing from his eyes, yet the kid went on, saying how Ran would try smacking him so many times and yell, and try to hide her tears when meeting in person and ask why they rarely see eachother anymore.

For a few more minutes, they were silent. Then, Conan stood up and said, "Well, I mght as well talk out what's going to happen on that day... Make the phone call now, have Ran prepare.." And he thought, _I can't stand it, how much longer must I live in this tiny body? There's nothing I can do as Conan when I see Ran cry..._

Just then the doorbell rang.

"Quiet," Conan told Heiji as he went up to the door. "No one I know would ring the doorbell when they know I'm not here." He stared at Heiji. Ignoring the face, Heiji followed behind him, and was given Conan's tranquilizer gun in case it was something to worry about. Conan had his hand near his feet, forgetting that he was wearing slippers, as he slowly opened the door to just be able to see outside, in case someone was watching.

No one was there. Nothing was there, nothing but an envelope.

_For Kudo Shinichi,_

_-Vermouth_

The two boys looked at eachother in surprise, then only one of them smiled. The other shook his head in disagreement, knowing what the first was going to do without even reading what was inside it.

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Authers' Comments:

I don't think Heiji and Ai have made contact with eachother before.. And I don't think Shinichi told his birthday to Heiji or Ai either... so yeah I'm just pretending that it did happen.. in my fic Heiji and Haibara only met a few times and rarely talked excpet for the hello and byes and they only know about eachother thanks to Conan.I do think Conan would have made a little bigger deal with Heiji shouting out Kudo... I belive everyone cept the you know whos addresses Ran and Kazuha as -san and Haibara Ai is -kun for mostly everyone too... I'm too lazy to check XD

Comments? Critisism? First fic ever, don't expect really long chapters Lol

Expect next chapter sometime in the next few weeks! It'll hopefully be alot longer, but it will be long


	2. Chapter 1: The Hunt Begins

Once again, I don't own Detective Conan, but this Fanfiction is mine.  
Please review after reading this chapter...

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Chapter 1: The Hunt Begins… With a Bad Suspicion

Conan looked around outside his house. No one suspicious was around. Just then out of the corner of his eye, he thought for sure he saw the tip of Vodka's black hat behind the bushes that were from the house across from his own. As if it had been a reflex since he was born, Conan grabbed his skateboard, put his power shoes on and his ball belt, took the letter and ran outside the door. When he stepped out the door, he ran back to get the temporary antidote and put it in his pants pocket.. "Watch my house for me Heiji!" He yelled as he got on his skateboard and rode off.

Heiji knew there was no stopping the guy. "Geez, what am I? A house maid?" But to make it seem more normal, he yelled, "Be sure to come back before dinner! It's 2 right now!" _Ahh… _he thought. _That kid is so much trouble when it comes to the Black Organization, but they wouldn't be found so easily, so there's no need to worry right now since this is in public. Loads of people are walking right now. _Sure enough, Heiji too, was going to leave. The detective first made a phone call, then locked the door and made sure the windows were locked too, and went to the mall, smiling.

-------

While riding, Conan gripped the letter tightly and thought. _Good, its only 2 in the afternoon. The sun won't set until quite a while now. This time, for sure I'll catch you Vodka! _He sped towards those bushes, to find nothing more but the black hat, and no traces of anyone being there. Annoyed, Conan got off and sat down, finally opening the envelope, finding it to be printed off a computer.

_Edogawa Conan, _

_Good job rushing to those bushes and just finding the hat. We haven't met for.. what seems to you to be a long while now, right? We could just kill you right now. _

Alarmed by this, Conan looked around and a plastic arrow came down beside him from his left, landing on the grass. Looking to that direction, he knew they would have hidden again. _Great, _he thought. _They ARE watching me but I don't know where they are… And they are toying with me. _Conan picked up the arrow and examined it. _Just a toy arrow you could get in any toy store... They must've shot the hat over the same way they shot the arrow._ He kept reading.

_Did we surprise you? Hohoho…. We know you quite well Kudo Shinichi. We're making our move now, you just need to find us and attempt to stop us. -smile- Get the police, get the FBI, get us yourself, this time, nothing can stop us._

_P.S. If you want to know where we are, from the place where we first met, go to Tokyo's erowt main access, then look for the stripped trees and you will see a path. Continue along there and you will see a sign of us. Heh. The rest is your doing. You have a week before these instructions change._

Conan got up. _I'll need Heiji to help with the English parts… Hmm…Why a week? That's way too long. Wouldn't it be natural to give me a shorter time? _He paused. _She knows that I will encounter some troubles that will delay me because it's probably her that's fulfilling it. _The boy got on his skateboard again, made sure he had everything he came with, and decided to go back 'home'.

-------

"Ran-neechan! I'm home!" said Conan as he entered the door.

"Conan-kun! Where were you today?" Ran said as Conan took off his shoes and put down his skateboard. "You're friends were looking for you just a while ago. "

_Oh joy. _Conan thought while walking towards the room. "I was with Prof. Agasa-san and Haibara-kun! See, the professor made this cool new airplane that flies so fast!" And he made his way towards dining table, sat down on a chair, and began thinking about Vermouth's letter.

Ran looked at the little boy and noticed his thinking face and quietness. "D-don't you want to know what your friends came for?"

Disrupted, Conan replied. "Uh.. Sure!"

"They wanted to know your secret." Ran answered.

"W-what secret?" Conan asked. _Either Ran is making this up because she… or Haibara told them something._

"I'm not sure myself but- Ah here they come now!"

Sure enough, Ran opened the door to reveal Genta, Ayumi and Mitsuhiko, with Genta and Mitsuhiko holding stern faces. "CO-NAN!" Genta ordered. "As the leader of the Shonen Tantei, I command you to come here! Now!"

With some nervousness, Conan got off the chair, trying to look interested. "What what?" _You got to be kidding me, not now! _He looked around them. _Great, and they framed me too because they made it look it was me that is messy when I came back._

Genta pulled him downstairs and Mitsuhiko ran after, and Ayumi turned to Ran and said, "Sorry Ran-neechan! You can't listen in on what's going on!" and ran after the two boys.

Ran smiled. "Kids, joyous and fun-loving." She turned, wondering what Conan was thinking about. "Probably something about the 'secret' with his friends!" She looked on the floor. "Ah! Conan-kun! You left your things all over the ground! Kids, lazy, messy and fun-loving." She said as she picked up the skateboard and put his shoes upright at the doorway. "Conan-kun, you act so much like an adult sometimes but-" She stared at the vial with the colorless liquid that was on the chair Conan had just sat on. "C-conan-kun…"

-------

"Come on Conan! Tell us your secret already!" Genta stomped around Conan.

"I honestly don't know what you guys are talking about." _Geez… they drag me out into the park and ask for some secret… what in the world did Haibara tell them?_

"Don't tell me you don't know, Conan!" Genta shouted. "How in the world do you complete your homework so fast? In fact, you never DO get homework!"

Mitsuhiko agreed. "Yeah yeah! I may be smart but I can't do things fast! Tell us!"

Genta taunted him. "I bet you cheat don't you? You give someone money to do your homework for you!"

Even Ayumi wanted to know but was nowhere as bad-mannered. Conan wanted to know something too. "Was it Haibara-kun who told you about it?" _Ah. Haibara you are so cruel to put them and me in such a situation they'll never back out of._

As expected the three members of the Shonen Tantei got together and whispered. "Of course not!" Genta shouted.

Mitsuhiko said, "Yeah! We're smart enough to figure it out ourselves! I mean, no homework? That's REALLY suspicious!"

"We're still smart!" Ayumi said cheerfully.

_The expected answer from them… _Conan thought. _Obviously Haibaras' doing._

"So OUT WITH IT CONAN!" Genta pointed at him, but the kid wasn't paying attention. His eyes were on a car parked in the parking lot of park. _Gin's car… _He ran across to it. "O-OI! CONAN! Don't run from your leader!" And the Shonen Tantei followed.

"Damn," Conan said out loud while running towards the car. "It just has to be this time when those kids have to be with. And I don't have my skateboard to lose them either… I guess I'll just have to plant the bug on the car and hope it doesn't go out of range by the time I get my skateboard." The boy was on the left side of the car. He reached his glasses and took the bug off and stuck it under Gin's car so it won't easily be found.

He was just about to begin running back home when Genta's voice interrupted. "Oi! Conan! You bad boy! Are you trying to vandalize the car?" But the running boy had no intention of stopping and replying. "OIIIII!" The group of three saw no choice but to leave the mysterious kid alone.

-------

Conan opened the door. "Conan-kun, you're back quite quickly." Ran said when the small boy entered. She was sitting down on the same chair Conan previously sat on.

Apparently old man Kogoro was out. _Heh, if it's a case it'd take him forever to solve._ "Yeah! My friends want me to get my skateboard so we can all try it out. Now where did I put it?" He swore it was at the doorway, and he didn't like Ran's strange tone of voice either.

"After riding it so much, it got quite dirty so I wiped it clean."

Conan spotted it near the window, drying in the sun. _Hopefully the solar power mechanism didn't get damaged… If it did… _He hoped very much it didn't. He picked up the skateboard and saw the vial of the antidote on the ground beside it. "Ahh…" He began, making sure Ran wasn't watching. Quickly the boy grabbed it and was about to shove it in his pants pocket when Ran grabbed his arm.

"CONAN-KUN! What is that? Tell me!" She said with a hint of worried-ness.

"Uhhh…" He thought fast. "It's the vinegar we had to use for an experiment at school! Each of us got one vial to test the chemical reaction if different rocks felt it! It was fun seeing that some rocks bubble and others do nothing at all!" Conan felt a stabbing pain knowing he had to lie again, but this time something was different…

"LIAR!" She yelled quite furiously. "First of all, grade students DON'T experiment with chemicals! Secondly…" Ran burst into tears and sat on the chair. "S-secondly… I brought it the hospital and a doctor told me… told me…" Conan looked at Ran, but even though she looked at him back with sadness, he could see the anger inside her. "He told me that the main ingredient of that fluid is unknown but… but… there are faint traces of drugs… Some bad ones… And… and he said that the main ingredient is most likely an unknown drug…" She sobbed and stared at Conan with furious, worried, eyes. "Tell me the truth, Conan. Tell me. What is this? Where have you been getting it?" She paused and said, "Have you been taking it?"

He knew he was in serious trouble, as both Conan and Shinichi. All thoughts about Gin's car disappeared from his mind. "I-uh… no. I don't know how it might have gotten into my pants pocket. Maybe when I was distracted, someone-"

"LIAR!" She screamed. "STOP LYING TO ME! If that were true why would you say it was a vial of vinegar! WHY!" _First Shinichi and now Conan… I know Shinichi is lying to me…_ "I KNOW THIS HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH SHINICHI! Is that why you're so smart? Does this drug increase one's intelligence? Maybe my suspicion about you and Shinichi's phone wasn't a stupid idea after all… To use a child like this… and to feed him drugs… Shinichi… Shinichi… What kind of person have you become? Are you laughing at me this very instant?"

Conan dared not to look at Ran. Just by hearing her words made himself feel worse than ever before. He didn't have the heart to look at her flowing tears and the sadness that he caused. _In some ways, she is saying the truth… Oh why am I trying to look at the bight side? _He thought. _Maybe I should tell her… Maybe… But she'd never forgive me… She'd-_

His thoughts were interrupted by her voice. "Take it." She merely said and let go of his arm that was holding the vial. "Take it. Become the smartest boy in the world, I don't care." She sobbed. "It wasn't worth giving my blood to you, lending you my shelter and food, especially since you DO have something to do with that detective jerk, that… that……" She burst into tears once again.

Conan looked at her. What could he do now? He couldn't tell her. Not now…

"I bet anytime now that jerk is going to call me and say something that will take the suspicion off you… But I'm not falling for that again… I'm not… I'm not…"

Conan still looked, completely stunned about this and heavy with guilt. "Ran-neechan…"

She turned to the boy, still holding the vial, which only fed the anger. "Go…" She muttered. "GO! Go back to Shinichi and tell him that I will never forgive him! Then again… He most likely has already given up on me… lying about some case all the time… and pretending he's still worried about me… Who knows? You might be his son, Conan… " She had cried more after saying those words. "YOU on the other hand, I NEVER want to see you again! Or Shinichi! Go… GO!" Conan stood there… not knowing what to do. "What are you waiting for? GO AWAY! Take everything you own! Even take the stuff I bought for you! Just LEAVE!" She turned her head toward the table, crying.

The boy stood there. Watching the heartbroken girl that was convinced of one thing. Turning back into Shinichi wouldn't do a thing right now. Ran wouldn't look at him. When he appeared she'd probably think Conan had already went downstairs and was driven away by what _she_ thinks, Shinichi's… _More than ever now, I'll need to get the true antidote… And turn back to Shinichi right before her eyes…_

He went downstairs, with his skateboard, belt, and all his other equipment. He didn't think once about his Sherlock Holmes novels that he brought over from Shinichi's house. He opened the door and turned back one last time before going downstairs.

"Good, you're finally leaving…" He thought she said.

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Auther's Notes

Honestly, I don't think ANYONE who read this fic expected this to happen... Well... um... at first when I began writing this chapter, I expected it to be totally different... not at all like this. And i wonder what Gosho would have had Ran do if they were in this situation. maybe Ran wouldn't have been so angry? shrug

The english parts from the letter were "_erowt main access, then look for the stripped trees and you will see a path. Continue along there and you will see a sign of us",_ which, as you can see, is why conan didn't go chasing after him, Cause he didnt know how to read! LoL


	3. Chapter 3: Heartbroken

Chapter 2: Heartbroken

Dazed, lost, confused. There was not one emotion that could explain how Conan felt at that moment. Depressed, irritated, angered. The boy slowly walked down the stairs of Detective Mouri's agency and out into the glaring light of the sun. _Heh, look at yourself this time, Shinichi._ He thought to himself._ This has to be the most troublesome event that has ever happened in your life. Forget about cheating death and turning into a kid. You've broken the heart of the one that has always waited for you… believed in you… _

The solar-powered skateboard was still in the grasp of his arm. He looked down upon it. "Why… why did I have to return to grab this stupid piece of junk!" He took the board in his hand and rose it high into the air, wanting to smash it into pieces, but managed to control himself before doing so. Instead, he set it on the ground and rode off as fast as he could…

****

Salty tears formed a puddle on the table, as Ran sobbed quietly by herself. Her thoughts were all jumbled up. She had believed Shinichi all this time… Trusted that he would permanently return instead of making brief visits every year or so. She began to think this logically_. _As Shinichi would have done…

_Alright Ran, control yourself. If Conan… really were Shinichi's son… then that means Shinichi has someone else… someone that he loves more…_ Ran resisted the temptation to burst out in more tears. _Be strong Ran, be strong… But Conan was at least six years old when he joined us, and it was just the day after Shinichi disappeared off to a case. Shinichi could not be the father, could he…? For him to be a father at such an age would make him…_ She didn't want to think about it. _Professor Agasa _did_ say that he's related to Conan… And Shinichi's mother _did_ say that  
Conan is related to her, even if it is from a distant part of the family. So I guess that it _is_ possible that Conan came from the Agasa side of the family and _could_ have the coincidence of resembling Shinichi… _She shook her head. "Why am I still defending him?" She cried aloud. "After all he's done to me! Why do my deductions keep going back to making Shinichi sound innocent?" _Because he is innocent…_ A voice inside told her. A voice that she wanted to believe, but she didn't know if she should…

****

Conan blindly rode on the skateboard, completely oblivious to the many shouts of anger he received due to his sharp turns of careless driving. All he wanted to do was feel the fast breeze of the wind to try and cleanse this… feeling of sadness away from him. But no matter how quickly he rode, the gnawing pain still haunted him. Finally, he gave up and stopped, taking the first clear look at his surroundings around him.

The boy was near Tokyo Tower. Many visitors, both coming and going, crowded the area due to a special art event occurring, which filled with many paintings, decorative flowers, pottery exhibits, and many more handicraft displays of the sort. But Conan paid no heed to any of that. He sat down and leaned his back against the wall of an alleyway, head down. No one paid any attention to him. No one probably even saw him to due to the distractions of the special events. But it wasn't until long that he looked up and saw a little boy walking with  
his mother, staring at him.

"Mom, look! There's a kid all by himself there!"

The mother of the boy looked in Conan's direction. She gasped at the sight of a depressed seven year-old child. With her motherly instincts,she approached him. "Boy, are you alright? Are you lost? Where are your parents?"

Conan paid no attention after taking a glance at her. He merely looked back down and turned away from the woman.

"Hiro, stay here and look after this boy." She told her son. "I'm going to get the police to help this young child." She hurried away, turning her head once to make sure that her son was listening and not running off with the newfound freedom he could be using right now.

Hiro cautiously approached Conan. "Hey there!" He was around nine to ten years old. "So, um, whatcha doing?" Like with his mother, Conan merely looked up once, and turned back down. Unfortunately, Hiro was not the type of person that liked to get ignored. "Hey. I'm trying to be friendly here. What are you doing? Don't you know it's not safe to be all alone like this?"

"Speak for yourself, your mother's not here."

"She went to get the police to help YOU!"

"How do you know she's coming back?"

The thought of this struck Hiro down as he paused before making his next reply. "Hey you watch your mouth, kid! I'm older and bigger than you, and I can take you on and win any time!"

"You sure about that, _kid?_" The tone of Conan's voice surprised the other boy.

"You're gonna regret saying that!" And the 'older' boy charged right for Conan's face with a hardened fist. His punch met its target as Conan's hair swayed from his neck being turned to the right from the impact on his left cheek. Hiro expected an explosion of tears, and imagined himself being superior and teaching this kid a lesson. He looked at the face of his victim, who had gotten his right hand to rub upon his cheek to dull the pain, and then he gasped when he saw a huge grin on the face of a kid that just got  
punched. "Wh-what are you smiling about?"

Conan's grin faded smaller as he turned to notice the return of Hiro's mom, as well as two police officers. He then made some fake tears drip from his eyes, making sure that the approaching adults saw, and ran off towards the Tower. In the distance, he heard the mother of the boy scolding him with policeman staying behind, while the other followed him.

The police officer ran after the running boy. "Hey! Boy! Come back here! It's okay! No need to be scared!"

Obviously Conan paid no heed.

So, what? He lost his old body. His old life. He lost the security of living everyday without a worry that he might run into a member of the Black Organization. He lost the trust of the woman that he loved the most. And now, even if it's vague, he's running from the law, which for sure will eventually report the subject of a "Run-away seven year-old child" to many  
sources, and his description, or maybe even picture, will appear all over Tokyo.

Life could get no better than this.

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Author's Comments:

How long has it been since I last even touched this story.. Dx So sorry everyone!  
It has been a year and a half at least, maybe even two! (or three?! Gasp!)

My writing style has changed dramatically. I've re-read the first two chapters of this story and I can't even compare to how different it is to my style now. I have considered rewriting the Prologue and the first chapter, but the time gap between the first chapter and this chapter is far too great, that I believe I should be spending time working on the future chapters instead of revising past ones. Yes, I know it's good to always revise, but I'm tempted to _completely_ rewrite them since I can barely recognize it to the style I write with now. So instead of butchering the story, I'm just going to let it be for now =\

I feel I have faded from the central point of what I originally intended this story to be about (the encounter with the BO), and now I'm focusing more on the relationship of Ran and Shinichi. I'll _try_ to keep this story with how I originally intended it to go though.

As for comments about this Chapter, I personally loved and enjoyed writing it, or maybe this extra happiness is due to the fact that I _finally _had the inspiration to continue this story again. But anyhow, hope you enjoyed it!


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